


Like the Sun Came Out

by rideswraptors



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Get together fic, Post-Serenity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 02:46:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12312306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rideswraptors/pseuds/rideswraptors
Summary: "There's a ghost upon the moor tonightNow it's in our houseWhen you walked into the room just thenIt's like the sun came out"Start of Time- Gabrielle Aplin





	1. I'm Just a Drop of Water

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> Gorram = goddamn  
> Go shi = shit  
> Fei hua- Nonsense/rubbish  
> Qing wa cao- frog-humping son of a bitch  
> Aiya!- Hey!  
> Hun dan- bastard  
> Wo de tian a = Oh my god  
> Ta Ma De = fuck you  
> Shi Ma= That so?/ Oh really?  
> Da chung wu dahn= big gun, no bullet  
> Yo hua kwai suo= speak now and quickly  
> Chwen joo= stupid egg/idiot  
> Shuh muh? = What?  
> Gou cao de= dog-fucking  
> sha gwa=fool  
> ung jeong jia ching jien soh= filthy fornicators of livestock  
> Lio Coh Jwei Ji Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh Buhn Jah J'wohn= Stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey  
> Jien Huo= cheap bitch  
> Shuōhuǎng zhě= liar  
> Le se= garbage

“I don’t like it.”

“No one asked you.”

Jayne scoffed angrily, “Well they gorram well shoulda, cause I’m the only one with enough brains on this boat to see that this is a _go shi_ plan!”

“You’re overthinking it.”

“I ain’t ever been accused of thinkin’, honey,” he shot back testily. While true, his tone was a mistake and even an idgit like him knew that. River Tam gracefully straightened to full height, her braid slipping over her shoulder as she whipped around sharply to face him with a dangerous glint in her eye.

“ _Fei hua_ you _qing wa cao_ —” she spat out venomously.

“ _Aiya_!”

River continued her curse, much to Jayne’s irritation. But he let her. She was half of everything he was; half his height, half his stature, half his age, and he damn well knew it. Was obvious to just about every _hun dan_ in the Verse. But none of that curbed the outright terror in his bones, the sheer awe in his veins. Gorram woman was a half-cocked weapon bout to go off on any soul nearby, given a hair of provocation. The absolute last thing in the Verse Jayne Cobb wanted to do was wind her up and set ‘er off.

*

_One year earlier_

Jayne Cobb is not what you would call a learned man. And he gorram well knew it, too. Took a little bit of pride in being a salt of the earth type. So no, he weren’t smart, but there were a few things he did know. And one of them?

Take care of your weapons and they’ll take care of you.

After Miranda it was pretty obvious that River Tam weren’t just some crazy girl with a cut up brain. Sure, them blue-handed _hun dans_ had taken something from her, but they replaced it with something—well, it was gorram shiny, in Jayne’s humble opinion. Just needed some training, some fine-tunin’, is all. But she thought she were broke, that it was all her fault. So while everybody else was comforting each other for one thing or another, River was on her own most times. Turned out, without Book, Jayne was alone just as often.

“Watcha doin’ in here, crazy?”

He found her in the weapons locker one day, few hours before dinner. Zoe was takin’ a break from Wash duty and sittin’ in the pilot’s seat. Kaylee and Simon were entertaining Wash in the engine room while Kaylee fixed up Serenity’s heart. The captain and ‘Nara were hell who knows where. So no one was watching over Crazy and she’d snuck her way into his favorite place on the ship. She sat on the floor, cross-legged and staring up at the guns, belts, blades, and boxes of ammo, eyes glazed over.

“Came to be with my own kind.”

“What in the ruttin’ hell are you talkin’ ‘bout?” he grumbled out, walking past her a ways to get his cleaning supplies and the inventory log.

“She was locked up in her own head, then they cut her out and shoved themselves inside. Now anyone can get in and out. Use her, disassemble her. Lock her away.”

Jayne shook his head with an annoyed growl, “Can’t’cha ever just say things plain?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them. After savin’ all their hides from those ruttin’ Reavers, he felt he should try to be nicer to her. Talk a little nicer to her and all. Weren’t working very well. She twisted around, keeping her seat, and tilted her head like some fucked up baby bird with hypnotic powers.

“Would you try?”

Now _that_ he understood. He’d heard her fightin’ with her brother o’fen enough to know that the Doc dinit listen right. Heard him talkin’ over her, puttin’ her words in a different way. She always got sad about it, said the Doc weren’t even _trying_. And when she said it, she didn’t mean that he wasn’t tryin’ to understand. Sighing again, Jayne grabbed a chair from the corner, twirled it around so he was sittin’ on it backwards but facing her, dropped his elbows to the top of it, and rolled his hand.

“Shoot.”

River hesitated a moment, examining him with some extra scrutiny she usually reserved for broken equipment or puzzles she hadn’t figured out just yet. Cause she would. Always did. It was hard telling if she was rootin’ around in his head. She promised she wouldn’t anymore. But then, in a graceful movement, she shifted herself around so she was facin’ him too, put her hands on her knees, and let her eyes flutter shut. Weird, but okay.

“Sometimes her brain gets heavy. Like the ship, parts always moving, gears always spinning, low on fuel, but there’s no planet or station for days. She gets tired holding back the flow.” Jayne nodded but stayed quiet. Fastest way to make a conversation go sideways was to interrupt, that’s what Ma taught him. River’s lips stretched into a thin, small smile. “So she shuts down and begins to drift. Simon thinks she is lost and far away. But she’s not, she’s here. She’s just…buoyant and lesser and the Black is vast.”

“Okay.”

Her eyes shot open, almost in surprise. Not that he knew why.

“The less she has in her, the more that can get in. You all have so much inside you that it rushes into her empty space.”

His brows shot up, “Like our thoughts and feelin’s and stuff?” She nodded. “Huh.”

“Miranda made her tired. Miranda set her adrift. And then all there was, was the fear, the need to fight back.”

“Our need?” She shook her head. “Not the Reavers?” he asked with a shudder. She shook her head again.

“She is Serenity’s long arm. She is the guardian of its flesh and blood crew. She was programmed, like a computer, to be a weapon for missions. Serenity’s mission was all that was left to her.”

“You tryin’ to tell me the boat told you to kill them Reavers?” he asked skeptically. River only shrugged in response, probably because she didn’t quite understand herself. Jayne dragged a hand over his face.

“Okay, fergit for a minute.  When yer, er, floatin’ in space or whatever? Are ya happier?” She shook her head. “So yer sadder?” She shook her head. “Help me out here.”

“She is nothingness. Empty.”

“Alone.”

“Heavy.”

“Does anything help?”

She tilted her head, the long locks of her hair kissing the steel floor. “Help what?”

Jayne scowled, gesturing in her direction. “You! Does anything—I don’t know—make ya feel like yerself again quick?”

She raised her eyes, pondering over his question and shrugged again. “Simon says she need more medicine. He says that makes her feel better.”

“Do it?”

“Do it, what?”

“Do it make ya feel better?”

She blinked, slowly, like her big ol’ doe eyes were clickin’ on scopes, focusing in on a target.

“It makes her feel more nothing.”


	2. I'll Be in the Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll be rising with the morning tide.

_Present_

“ _Wo de tian a_ , Riv, I was playin’, but I’m serious about the other thing. Bout as dumb as a heater in the desert,” he finished on a grumble, shooting his glance away because he’d fouled up his whole argument. He shut his eyes tight when he felt the press of her lips against his rough cheek, not wanting to cave just cause she was gettin’ fresh.

*

_Eight months earlier_

“So you got the brake…the rail mount…the pivot pin…and the magazine well. That’s where the mag goes. Then this lil’ button right here? Tap that and it drops the old mag so’s you can put in a new one. Got that?” Jayne went slowly, pointing to each piece on the rifle and showing her the separate dissembled piece on the table.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now that pin. There’s one in the front and the rear—”

Several hours later, River was covered in gun oil, deftly cleaning the bolt of another one of Jayne’s prized weapons, while he sharpened blades and regaled her with stories about how he’d come by each of them. Some of them were as plain as shootin’ a man and takin’ the gun from his cold, dead hands. Others were won in poker games. Stolen. Gifts. Unvolunteered gifts.

“You mean to say you threatened to shoot his brains through his skull until he gave it to you,” River amended with a lilt in her voice. Jayne tsked.

“Ain’t no fun if yer gonna just read my mind first.” He chucked one of the older blades into the “clean first” pile, then jabbed an accusing finger at her. “And that was a _good_ one too.”

“Because of your thrilling heroics?” she chirped back, shining the bolt to a glimmer.

“Damn right they were thrillin’. They’d thrill the—”

“What the hell is going on in here?” Simon’s pompous, uppity demand interrupted a perfectly good barb, leaving Jayne all kinds of irritated.

“Girl’s gotta learn sometime,” he grunted back with a scowl.

“River! Put that down!” Simon jolted forward when she picked up the upper receiver to start reassembling Diana. Jayne snarled at the sudden, tetchy movement, baring his teeth like a gorram animal. Weren’t nobody supposed to be so jumpy about the weaponry. Ruttin’ dangerous is what it was.

“Simon!” River snapped, gracefully lifting her foot to his chest to keep him away from the parts he was reaching for. “Stop that right now! You are damaging Jayne’s calm.”

Jayne grunted, “Damn right, he is.” But River ignored him and kept talking.

“She wants to be useful. Wash will be back in the chair soon. She wants to be useful still.”

The room fell quick except for the metallic _schlick_ as Jayne continued to sharpen the hardware. He didn’t particularly care for this conversation. Truth be told, he didn’t particularly care for Simon Tam. Didn’t like the way the man spoke to his sister, like she were some infant child, when he was sexin’ up a girl only coupla years older in his bunk. Made no gorram sense.

“Hush, Jayne.”

“Dinit think nothin’ that weren’t true.” After Miranda, Jayne hardly noticed when River was or wasn’t in his head. She promised to stop going in without tellin’ a person, but when he didn’t believe her, she promised that she’d give him a little nudge, just to let him know. At first, the whole thing creeped him out. Gave him the heebies that she could see what he saw in his own mind. Then, it was just normal. Like sayin’ hey or tyin’ up your boots. Made jobs easier, too. And now that she knew his opinion, he kicked her weird butt brain out and stayed quiet, focusing on the sharpening. Oh yeah, he’d figured that too. She’d taught him how to block her out a bit. Didn’t work if she were really trying, but it was enough to let her know he wanted his thoughts for his own. She never stayed out that long anyways. His fixation meant he wasn’t payin’ no mind to what was comin’ outta the Doc’s mouth.

“…still a child, River! You don’t even understand what you’re doing half of the time! Your nightmares are terrible, you refuse to take medication—!”

And _that’s_ where Jayne decided to draw the line. He stood to full height, knife still in hand, towering over the Doc. River would kill ‘im dead if he even pricked her brother’s skin, so no, he had no intention of hurtin’, just…shoutin’.

“That’s bout enough outta you, doc. Riv ain’t some toddler you gotta watch like some wacko mother hen. Cause I sure as hell ain’t ever seen no child take out a pack o’ Reavers without a scratch on ‘em. She’s here, so she’s gotta pull her weight. If she wants to be armed on jobs, then she’s gotta learn ‘em first. So I’m teachin’ her. Now that Zoe stays back with Wash, I need someone watchin’ out fer me n’ the cap’n. That gon be you?” He raised his brows, tipping the knife in the doc’s direction. Simon swallowed hard and shook his head.

“Damn right. Wouldn’t trust ya to anyway. Now yer sis, here? She knows what she’s about. And there ain’t no harm in learnin’ how to help a person clean up some guns. She’s smarter than sin, so I think she can figure out how to make sure it won’t go off.”

Simon inhaled sharply, “You’re assuming that I will allow her to go out on jobs.”

Jayne took a decisive step forward, “ _Shi ma?_ I reckon a person can reach a conclusion all on their lonesome.”

“ _Ta me de hun dan_!” Simon hissed back, drawing a hand over his chin.

“ _Da chung wu dahn_ ,” Jayne said with a shrug, flipping the knife back into his hand and sheathing it. Then Simon lunged at him and Jayne was holding him off while River essentially ignored the whole scuffle. Some help she was. Mal came stomping in soon enough, shouting the mess down, pulling them off each other.

“Gorram ruttin inbred gorram—!” Mal shouted, shoving Jayne into the corner and jabbing a finger at Jayne. “ _Yo hua kwai suo_ cause I told you once—!”

“I didn’t do a gorram thing, Mal!” he argued, hands up. “That _chwen joo_ done came at me!”

Mal spun on his heal, “That true, doc?”

But Simon wasn’t given the chance to answer. He was interrupted by the sharp _click_ of River sliding the last piece of the rifle back into place.

“It is. Jayne provoked Simon. But Jayne was defending her from Simon,” she informed him evenly, examining her handy work.

“ _Shuh muh?_ ”

River stood gracefully from the bench, rifle carefully situated in her arms in a perfect imitation of how Jayne often stood. She spared a glance for her brother before handing the gun deftly to their captain.

“I will be a more effective crew member if I am allowed to be armed and go on jobs when you think it beneficial. I am learning to fly the ship. Kaylee is teaching me how to take care of Serenity’s engines. Jayne is teaching me about weapons and combat. I cannot be useful locked away on the ship. Please take my offer into consideration.”

Then she spun on her heels, went up on her toes, and kissed Jayne’s cheek before waltzing out of the mess hall. Jayne watched her go for a moment, a little dazed by the odd display, until he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He turned to see both the doc and the captain staring wide eyed at him like he’d done some witchery. Jayne had an itchy feelin’ that he were gonna get well acquainted with the airlock again.

“What?” he asked dumbly, hoping to play the victim here. But they both just stared, gaping a little in shock. “Gorram it, what!?”

“She—well she weren’t talkin’ crazy-like,” Mal tried to explain.

“Watcha mean?”

“Pronouns,” the doc answered, still dazed, staring at the empty space of the doorway. “She said—” But he trailed off, apparently too stunned to finish a thought. Jayne tilted his head, hoping it would help him flip through the script of the last five minutes. Oh. Yeah, she must have switched over. Figured.

“Oh yeah. Right. Only does that she _le se_ when she gits all fired up and buggy. Brainpan switch, I think.”

Now the stunned silence was pointed in his direction. Jayne frowned.

“What? What I do?”


	3. An Atom in a Sea of Nothing

_Present_

“Quick waters shape the rocks,” she murmured near his ear, her hands sliding up his sides now.

Jayne scowled, “Quick waters ain’t _go shi_ against mountains.” He didn’t know what was worse, that he understood her crazy talk, or that he could answer back in her language. Her hands were on his chest now, and Jayne felt the puff of her laugh against his neck.

“Then it will just have to go around.”

With that, River had moved past him to get to the cargo bay unimpeded. Jayne let out a string of expletives that woulda made even his Pa blush somethin’ awful.

Thing was, Jayne was a wanted man on the planet where they were to drop some cargo. Captain wanted everything to go smooth like, so he was takin’ Zoe and River without him. He and Riv hadn’t been split up on a job since Miranda. Not entirely his doin’, but true enough. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Mal to protect River…it was just—he didn’t trust anyone to protect River. Especially that _Gou cao de hun dan_.

*

_Eight months earlier_

It didn’t make no gorram sense. None at all. Now that Mal and the doc had pointed it out, Jayne couldn’t help noticing when River said “I” instead of “she” when talkin’ bout herself. Couldn’t help noticing it went right back to “she” when the others came around. Even lil’ Kaylee. He wanted to ask her about it, wanted a gorram reason for the weirdness, but he dinit know how to bring it up. _Er, hey Crazy, why you seem less crazy when you talk to me?_ Sounded like a ruttin’ _sha gwa_. So fuck that right up the arse.

But it was buggin him something powerful, and he wasn’t the sorta man to deny his impulsive urges.

They were in the cockpit one evening. Everything was mostly on auto, but River said that it was the quietest place on the ship, so she usually stayed there. Sometimes, like this time, Jayne would sit with her and practice reading. He could read most of his Ma’s Mandarin, but not much else. River were teachin’ him his letters and how to talk more proper. Core-like. Weren’t working.

He'd gotten a chapter into her book before he tossed it with a sigh, folded his arms over his chest, and spun his chair around in a few circles. By the time he came to a stop, River was facing him, eyes big and wide, head tilted, and legs crossed up on the seat. Her dress barely covered the vee she was presentin’ him, but he tried to ignore it as best he could.

“You are distressed.”

“No I ain’t.”

“Tone says different.”

“Tone is same as always, Crazy, you’re imaginin’ things agin.”

“No I ain’t,” she said in perfect imitation. “You’re curious. Ask me.”

He snapped and pointed at her, “That. Right there. Why ya doin’ that?”

“Doing what?”

“Talkin’ normal. Sayin’ _I_ and _go shi_ around me, but not the others.”

“Oh,” she responded dully, spinning in her own seat like he’d just done. It was funny, watching the little girl in her come out on occasion. Jayne still had nightmares about the Reavers, about Wash gettin’ stuck like a roast pig. About little River Tam going into that building fulla monsters and provin’ she were the baddest of the big bads in the Verse. Scared him something awful. It was nice to remember that she was still human on occasion, still wantin’ that childhood she dinit git proper. Still wantin’ to play and explore. Rare out in the Black.

“Whatcha mean _oh_?”

She spun around, facing him for a moment with a scowl on her face, and rolled her eyes. “I mean, _oh_ , I didn’t think you would notice.” And that just didn’t sit right with him.

“Why? Cause I’m a back-berth Rim rat?” he growled out irritably. She came to a sudden stop, planting her feet on the floor at the precise moment she was facing him dead on. She leaned back in the chair, arms settling on the rests as she watched him. Jayne was hard pressed to be intimidated by her off color starin’ anymore. She were always starin’ at something, sizin’ it up, figurin’ it out. She saw stuff they couldn’t see cause her brain was different. Not on account of what them gorram purple-bellied _hun dans_ did to her, but just because she was River. Her brain were different to start anyway. All them _ung jeong jia ching jien soh_ did was make so’s she couldn’t use it proper anymore. No chance fer more schoolin’ or fer doin’ science-stuff she talked about, or gettin’ famous for whatever genius thing she came up with. They tried to make it so’s she couldn’t feel nothing. Done messed up. Girl felt everything. Felt too much all the time. Jayne thought it was a gorram miracle. Go through all that and still feel stuff, still care about stuff. Most folk wouldn’t even bother, with their thousands of credits and cushy lives. Riv had diddly squat and would give all that to save their sorry hides. An’ she’d do it might efficient too. Plumb graceful. Like Vera when she was all shined up and reloaded, ready to go.

As the quiet stretched out between them, so did the smile on River’s lips. Got like that between ‘em sometimes. Jayne would be thinkin’ so loud that he forgot they weren’t talkin’. Cause she knew everythin’ anyway. But he didn’t understand that look in her eyes, didn’t understand the smile. But he kept his mouth shut.

“That’s why,” she whispered.

He frowned. “Crazy, if you don’t start talkin’ sense, I’ll git irksome.”

“You will be irked.”

“S’what I said.”

She laughed a little. Light and airy, but not teasing. He gorram well knew what her teasing laugh sounded like cause she teased ‘im all the gorram time. Couldn’t tell if he was annoyed she teased him so much or that he could hear the difference in her laughs.

“You see me, Jayne Cobb,” she said slowly, getting up from her chair. “You see all of me.”  River came forward, put her hands on the side of his head and kissed his forehead. Ain’t nobody but his Ma ever done that before. It was warm and lingering and he had to shut his eyes to it. But he could smell ‘er. Warm and vanilla, some smelly concoction her brother gave ‘er for her birthday. She was so close he could feel the heat comin’ off her, sent all the blood rushin’ south. Figured.

Then she was pulling away, lettin’ the cold ship air back between ‘em, walking away. Decision made in a flash of a second, Jayne snatched her wrist up before she could get too far. Whatever was all over his face made her smile at him, and he loosened his hold a bit, found himself just holdin’ her hand.

“Would you like tea?” she asked gently. But he shook his head. So, she squeezed his hand once, dropped it, and disappeared through the door.

Jayne watched her go, swallowed hard while he tried to get his bearings.

“Shiny,” he mumbled.

Then he got up to figure out where he’d tossed the book.


	4. Looking for Another to Combine

_Present_

The comms had cut out. Not _optimal_ , like she said, but happened o’fen enough that they weren’t worried yet. Wash was propped up proper in his chair, with his fancy stolen wheelchair not too far out of reach. He’d passed out when he got harpooned by them Reavers, lost oxygen to his brain, and it cut out his muscle control for a bit. He could move his upper body jus’ fine, but not his legs. And his heart was mostly gadget now. Doc said he’d outlive all’a em.

“Just a glitch, I think,” Wash said cheerfully, “They always get ‘em back online.”

“Don’t like it.”

“Nothing we can do but wait for the call.”

“Or fer one a’ them to drag somebody’s corpse into the cargo bay.” He was more worried about a _certain_ someone, but weren’t no use sayin’ it.

“Dramatic,” Wash argued with a shrug, “But true.”

“I’on’t like feelin’ useless.”

“Well imagine how I feel,” Wash snapped back with a false gaiety Jayne had always appreciated. Snarky sum bitch.

“Sorry,” he muttered sullenly, turning his attention back to his whittling. Hadn’t done it in a spell, but it had always calmed his nerves back on Beylix. Seemed right enough now.

Twenty minutes later, the comms came back on, and Jayne wished to whatever gods existed in the Verse that they hadn’t.

Shots were firin’, people was yellin’, there was an explosion, and Jayne felt like his head was a lot emptier.

*

_Six months earlier_

“ _Lio Coh Jwei Ji Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh Buhn Jah J'wohn!_  Fuckin’ cheatin’ _hun dan_!” Jayne’s poker opponent screeched, knocking the table out of the way. Jayne remained lounging in his seat, cigar in his hand, staring him down.

“Well,” Jayne said slowly, “That there was just plumb _rude_.” He passed his cigar off to some guy passing nearby, not payin’ him a lick a’ attention. Instead, he stood to his full height, the movement resonating in the now quiet tavern, and put his hand on his nearest gun. “So you’ll be a-givin’ me what’s mine and buyin’ tonic for all these here people you done interrupted.”

The man snarled, “ _Shi Ma?_ And who’s goin ter make me? You?” he sneered and spat on the floor. Normally, Jayne wouldn’t have thought nothing of it. But he’d been in close quarters with River and now-retired Inara for darn on a year now, and it, to be frankly, didn’t sit right with him. He curled his lip up at the insult, unholstering his gun.

“I sure aim to.”

But just like that, in a flash of a moment, he was disarmed. Jayne scowled, lookin’ heavenward for guidance, cause there were only one soul in the Verse that could disarm him like that. There was a gasp and a flash of black, and then River was blocking his opponent from view. But from general uproar ‘round the room and the shoutin’ from the keep, she musta had a loose hold on the man’s neck, keep him nice and tight in her control. But she weren’t lookin’ at Jayne’s next victim, she were lookin’ at _Jayne_ , with a baleful glint in those big brown eyes a’ hers. All disapproving n’ such.

“Now look here, woman—!” he snapped uselessly. Weren’t no point in defending himself. He’d promised after all.

“No guns!” she chastised, like a school marm talkin’ to rowdy kiddos at recess. Look, he dinit hold nothing against her it was jus’ that sometimes, a man needed to be a man and get the heat outta his blood. Drinkin’, sexin’, fightin’, it was just his nature. And for the past few months, he’d hardly had any action on account a’ small n’ easy jobs. Money was good, but he ain’t shoot anybody recently. Made him tetchy. So even if River weren’t glued to his shadow damn near all the time, Mal woulda sent her to babysit him dirtside anyway. Told ‘im as much. But all Mal said was no killin’, dinit say nothing about no fightin’.

“I ain’t done nothin’!” Jayne tossed back, reaching for his gun still in her hand, “An’ I can take care a’ my own business, Crazy!”

“Git this _Jien Huo_ , offa me!” the man spluttered, now struggling against River’s hold on ‘im. Musta realized some random slip of a girl-child were holdin’ him off and got all riled. Jayne leaned, catchin’ his eye and jabbing a finger in his direction.

“You shut yer gorram mouth ‘bout the lady since she’s saving yer dumb ass!” There was some appreciative chuckling from around the room, but Jayne didn’t find anything to be amused about. River mighta been all twisted up in the head, but she were a Core-bred lady. Anybody could see it. In the way she walked and talked and looked atcha. She even looked fragile like them Core ladies Inara spent time with, especially since she’d started buying her own clothes. Short but flowy dresses, tight bottoms and leather tops like Zoe favored. Looked more’a woman than she had in the past. An’ you just didn’t talk like that to a lady.

Then the gorram _hun dan_ let out a lengthy list of expletives in Jayne’s general direction, most’a which the mercenary took hearty exception to, seein’ as they were much exaggerated. But instead of gettin’ all fired-up like he always did, he felt his belly sink and he sighed, much beleaguered. With a short curse, he reached into his coat pocket for credits and put ‘em on the bar.

“Shouldn’t’a said that,” Jayne said only loud enough for the people in his immediate area to hear.

“How _dare_ you—!” River hissed.

“Whore bitch!” the man growled, still strugglin’ with her arm. “Call ‘er off!” he shouted to no one in particular.

“Shouldn’t’a said it,” Jayne muttered again with a shake of his head. River was mutterin’ something crazy again. Jayne grabbed a respectable lookin’ lad by the collar, “Listen, you best go call yer local doctor since her brother said he weren’t fixin’ ‘em up no more.”

“Wha-what?” the boy stammered out.

“I said get a doctor, boy!” he bellowed, shovin’ him off in the direction of the door. He barely heard the crash, but he did hear the groanin’ and the shriekin’ and River’s _You should not say such things about Jayne Cobb!_ Oh _lord_ were he gonna git a talkin’ to. S’not like it were his fault, gorram it! Not his problem that she got powerful riled up when a body threatened him. So why was he always gettin’ blamed for it? There was a louder crash, and Jayne turned just in time to see River vaulting herself through the big bay window after her victim. Jayne dropped his head and reached into his pocket again, then turned back to the keep.

“Now, this here’s for the table and them chairs. Think I heard sumthin’ splinter, so there’s that. And this for the window. Now I’d be much a-bliged if ya didn’t call the law in. My girl takes ‘ception to a man pointin’ a barrel at me. Makes ‘er powerful irksome.” The keep nodded quietly and accepted the credits, not sayin’ nothin’ ‘cept to his next customer. So Jayne spun on his heel and went after River. Through the door, a course, like decent folk.

“River! Ya best get yer scrawny ass in gear before the law show up!” he bellowed, letting the door slam behind him. Not a tick from the tavern, River stood over her victim, one combat boot on his neck, gun pointed at his head. She turned only her head to look at Jayne with a smirk on her face.

 _“Shuōhuǎng zhě_ ,” she said with too much cute in ‘er voice. Jayne just cocked his head and crossed his arms, waiting with his eyebrows raised. But then the man on the ground tried to start scufflin’ again, grabbin’ at River’s ankle to wring her off. Jayne rolled his eyes, idgits never did learn nothin’. River put him back in his place, firing off two shots at either side of his head without taking her eyes off Jayne for even a second. The man screamed and started cryin’.

“Now that jus’ ain’t right, Crazy, grown man weepin’ like a baby in public. Let ‘im go, he ain’t gon do nothin’.”

River’s smile dropped and she narrowed her eyes at him, “He said ugly things about Jayne. Said ugly things about the girl. Said he was going to drag you to the square and hang you up, then rape her in front of your corpse. She _don’t like_ ugly.”

Slowly, Jayne sauntered toward her, hands where she could see them. No good spookin’ her. As he got closer, he put his hands out slowly, and carefully took the gun from her hands. Not that she needed it to do some good damage to a person. He jus’ would like to have it back, thanks. River watched him like a hawk the whole time, goin’ so far as to press down on her victim’s neck with her boot once Jayne had the gun, just to prove the point. But he pulled a face at her, and she sighed, fully releasing the man. He looked to scramble away, but River kicked out at him, sendin’ him sprawlin back to the ground. Jayne snorted, but didn’t otherwise comment as she turned back to face him.

“Is Jayne mad at her?” she asked quietly, looking up at him with those big doe eyes. She had her hip jutted out just so, her skin all flushed from gettin’ riled. He sighed noisily, reaching over to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. She always kept it in a braid now, but the stuff got wild durin’ a fight. The smile stretched across her pretty lips did something to his insides and he caved. Ain’t nothin’ in the Verse could resist River Tam in a state.

“No,” he grumbled back sullenly. And that had her beamin’ brighter than babbies on Christmas mornin’. She was probably the only soul in the Verse that got happiest when he was grouchiest. Dinit make no gorram sense, no it did not.

“Cap’n said to watch you.”

Jayne snorted, “That’s cause Mal’s gotta stick up his arse.” She wrinkled her nose at him, so he rolled his eyes back at her, like a gorram child. With that he snatched up her hand and lead her down the road back to the docks. Weren’t nothing left here for them to do. Barkeep wouldn’t let ‘em back in and he didn’t want to stick around to see if River’s victim had loyal friends. He felt her hand comfortably situate in his bigger one, fingers threading together outta precaution. She got skittish when she was in trouble. “You jus’ make sure to tell ‘im it was you that started it. I weren’t gonna do nothin’ to that _hun dan_.”

“ _Shuōhuǎng zhě_ ,” she mumbled again, trailing him with clomping, resistant steps. He was essentially dragging her along. Gorram Reader.

“Would I lie to you?” he teased over his shoulder. She wasn’t smiling anymore, looked rather sullen, in fact. She didn’t meet his eyes.

“You lie to yourself all the time. Why not lie to the girl?”

“Don’t use that girl _le se_. If’n yer mad at me, jus’ say so. I ain’t playin’ mind games with no gorram Reader.” He said it much more harshly than he meant it. But he always came across as harsh. Weren’t no sense in lightening his tone with nobody. Had to look tough else people would take advantage. But River just snatched her hand back easily, and took off ahead of him.

“River!” he called after her. “Oh come _on_! You know I can’t keep up with you! River, gorram it get back here before the doc murders me!” He chased after her for a bit, but realized pretty quick that it weren’t no use. Instead he slowed down, and tried to figure out where she would run to. Not back to Serenity, for one. Not back into town. She’d want somewhere quiet. He mentally snapped his fingers, there was a big ol’ river near the ship docks. Not far enough away to get in trouble, but not close enough to be found quick. He took off in that direction.

The least surprising thing in the world was finding River sprawled out on the bank of that dirty hole in the ground with her bare feet dangling and dancing in and out of the water. He didn’t bother approaching slow or makin’ noise at all, she knew he was there. Instead, he just plopped down next to her and rested his arms on his bent knees.

“All right crazy girl, whatsa matter?” he asked with more gentleness than anyone would ever give him credit for using. His usual response to tears, and she were definitely cryin’, was defensiveness or anger. Can’t cheer nobody up when they wanna be down, is what his Ma always said. Point was to be there when they needed ya. Jayne weren’t never any good at it. She rolled her head in the grass to face him, eyes shimmering and full’a whispers. Never could tell what the girl was thinking.

“Just an overabundance of leucine-enkephalin in my brainpan. Needed releasing. I am fine now.”

He shook his head, looking out over the water, “I know a bluff when I see it, girlie. Best talk now or I’ll tell the doc on ya.”

“Snitch,” she groused. He chuckled at that. A little bit of fire meant the worst was over. But that didn’t mean he was safe. River swung herself up and around so she was facing him, cross-legged, eyes glinting like pieces of lit coal.

“We spend much time together, yes?” she said suddenly, without any build up.

“Er, yeah? So?”

“You enjoy spending time with me?”

Well that had him scritchin’ his head. “Err—sure, yeah. Ain’t bad or nothin’.”

Her head tilted in that creepifyin’ way it did when she were tryin’ to puzzle something out. Or kill a person. Or, well, anything she had to think on.

“Then why do you never touch me?”

Jayne’s whole brain slammed to a halt, the gears stopped grindin’, the wheels stopped turnin’, weren’t no fuel gettin’ topside. He just stared at her, jaw slightly dropped.

“I—!” he was going to try and defend himself, but he realized he didn’t know what he was defending himself against. “Well, it ain’t proper! Shouldn’t touch a lady more’n ya gotta!”

She blinked at him. “You touch doxies all the time.”

 _Not in the last few months,_ he thought grumpily.

“ _Whores_ , River. I pay whores to let me touch ‘em. I need the company ‘n they gotta put food on the table. That’s it. You don’t do that with no lady.” She looked to be ponderin’ on that for a moment. But the thing about River was that she never had to ponder for very long. Kept ya on yer toes, for certain.

“Wash touches Zoe.”

“They’re married. Married folks touch each other.”

“Simon touches Kaylee.”

“They’re engaged. Engaged folk do it, too.”

“Mal touches Inara.” He whipped around lightning fast at that, brows shot straight up.                                                                                                                                              

“How you know sumthin’ like that?” But she only shrugged. Gorram Readers able to git inside yer brainpan but not so willing to tell nobody nothin’. He pouted for a second. “Well that don’t matter neither, Inara’s a Companion. Basically a high-class whore. If she’s servicin’ the cap’n it’s cause he’s payin’ her.”

“No he isn’t,” she sang back with a teasing smile on her face. Jayne narrowed his eyes at her, huffing in annoyance. She never were no fun with nobody’s secrets. He’d tried already. Instead, he kicked his feet out, braced himself up with his hands on the ground.

“Still don’t matter. That’s couple-stuff. Normal folk don’t jus’ go ‘round touchin’ each other in stuff. Couples do that. Those are all _couples_.”

“Are we not a pair?”

Jayne flushed, “What!? No!” But she frowned. “I mean—er—we’re a pair a’ people. Not a pair a’ people in a relation-ship. There’s a mite of different.”

“I cannot see how.” Jayne shifted uncomfortably, not at all how sure how to proceed with this conversation. Maybe Inara or Kalyee could…? She slugged him in the shoulder, not at all gentle. “No!” she protested to his mental train of thought. “You! You tell me.” Jayne deflated with a sigh. He weren’t no good at words, so if she wanted his take on it, she’d get it.

“Couples sex each other up, all right? We ain’t a couple because we ain’t bedding down together, plain as that. We’re friendly. That’s it.”

The silence stretched out between them. Jayne watched River while she watched the river. The word play tripped him up. River on the river. He wondered if she had always been drawn to water or if she got bored with everyone makin’ flowery comparisons. He’d bet Vera that them Core boys talked pretty to her, comin’ up with all kinds of _le se_ ‘bout her bein’ like the water in a river, like water in gen’ral. He could figure why they’d say it, too. Mind flittin’ all over the place, movin’ so fluid-like, quick and easy. She took everything over, made it her own, infiltrated every bit of every space. Bigger than the Black, he sometimes thought, she’s gotta minda bigger than the Black. No limits. But it was more’n that, too. The doc liked to think that every little thing about her now was on account a’ the Alliance cuttin’ into her brainpain and torturin’ her. Some of it were true. Some of it weren’t. Woman was a trickster, moved faster than light, saw stuff ain’t no other person could see. She took to everything like she were born doin’ it. There was good in her that not even them blue _hun dans_ could get their grubby hands on. It was too deep down, too coiled up in her person. Woman was pure light most days, even when she couldn’t see it herself.

He snapped out of his thoughts when she sighed and dropped her chin to her shoulder.

“I do not understand you at all, Jayne Cobb.” Her tone was sad and airy, socked him right in the gut.

“Ain’t much to understand.”

“Most of the time your thoughts run parallel with your actions. They are linear and on course. I can navigate the paths and reliably predict the outcomes of every scenario in the Verse. But then I speak and you fly off in swooping parabolas too inconstant to track and concoct algorithms for your words as if they were fine jewels to be sold to emperors when they are plated stones dug up from the closest place you could find.” She sighed heavily, letting herself fall back to the grass again all graceful-like. “I would much rather have the stones to treasure than false jewels.”

Now, his first reaction was to call her crazy and yell at her for talkin’ gibberish. The problem was, that it actually weren’t all gibberish. Don’t get him wrong, most o’ that fancy, learned talk didn’t make no gorram sense. He didn’t know what the hell a _porabla_ was, but he knew that alg-word was something to do with math-a-matics. She’d said the like before. Jayne Cobb was a simple sort. Didn’t need much to live, but he did a whole lotta livin’. He thought something, said it plain, and then he’d go out and do it. Simple. Reliable. _Predictable_ , she said. His brain were quiet most times because he did what he thought of, and didn’t think much on what he couldn’t think up or do. Stuff like that didn’t matter. A man could do a thing or he couldn’t. Plain and simple. Unfortunately, all this meant that he knew exactly what she was sayin’ and exactly _why_ she was sayin’ it. It was, as Inara had put it few weeks back, _uncharacteristic_ of him to not do or say something as he liked. And Jayne had been _uncharacteristic_ goin’ on a few months now. But damn if he knew why.

His second reaction was something else altogether.

“River,” he said firmly, staring out over the water, “You scare the ever-livin’ _go shi_ outta me, and I ain’t the sorta man that takes kind to bein’ scared a’ somethin’.”

She didn’t respond right away. The quiet weren’t soothing like it normally were.

“You think I will hurt you? Kill you?” she whispered. And he didn’t take kind to that neither. Her talkin’ all small and hurt like some beat down cur. Wouldn’t stand. He snorted meanly.

“You’re in my head damn near all the time, when’s the last time I thunk that?” Her answer was too quiet for him to hear, but he knew when it was. Three days after they got Wash back she woke up screamin’ and cuttin’. Brainpain was too sensitive for Wash’s trauma, apparently, thought she were fightin’ them Reavers again. Jayne was convinced she were gonna kill them all. Sad part was he dinit even blame her, understood it to a point. He’d mostly been sad thinkin’ how she was gonna feel when she got clear again. Realized what she done to her kin n’ crew. He physically felt the wave of relief crash over her. Thing about a Reader, they’d found out, was that they could broadcast their feelin’s too. Weren’t just a one-way ride. Whenever River felt something intensely, sometimes they could feel it if she weren’t too careful about keepin’ a lid on it.

“Then I do not understand your meaning.”

That actually made him laugh, “Yeah, ain’t fun is it?” She spat her tongue at him, making him laugh at her harder. Felt nice confusin’ the genius for once. Weren’t often he were the clear-thinkin’ one at the party.

“So…you do not _wish_ to touch me, then…”

“I ain’t said that.”

The words were outta his mouth before he could stamp ‘em down. Didn’t have the first clue why he’d say somethin’ like that. Well…he had _one_ clue, but he wouldn’t actually _say_ it. Ladies didn’t wanna hear you talk ‘bout the things you thought ‘bout them all on your lonesome. Weren’t proper. And whores _definitely_ didn’t like it, didn’t like you gettin’ _too_ attached. Scratch yer itch and move on. He didn’t even know why he was thinkin’ about this right now because River was starin’ at him wide eyed and shocked like he just slapped her or somethin’.

“I mean—”

But of course she didn’t let him finish. Jayne Cobb’s mouth usually got ahead of him. He thought it, he said it. That was his way. Usually meant trouble for him. River probably knew that well enough to nip it at the bud and shut him up proper. Because in a swift movement too quick and too graceful for him to catch onto, she was slippin’ over him, straddlin’ him, and kissin’ him before he could even react.

And suddenly a dozen of Jayne’s torrid dreams were coming to life. Not thinkin’ on River was a simple thing in the daytime. She was there. He could see how vulnerable she was. The crew was there. Toes outta line meant getting’ reacquainted with the airlock or worse. She was in his head. Couldn’t think on her if she was hangin’ out in there. Weren’t so easy alone at night. Weren’t so easy to remember all the good reasons for staying away. He was a dirty old man, vile for thinkin’ about young things with damaged brains and pure souls. At night he just wanted sleep, escape from it. But this…

It finally clicked for him that River’s lips were moving steadily over his, patiently waiting for his reaction. That her slender form was on top of him, wrigglin’ in just the right ways to get closer. Jayne finally got a-movin’, one of his hands darted up to cup her head, the other clamped around her back. His hands were so big on her body that the one nearly palmed the whole of her head and the other could reach around to the opposite side of her belly. He was havin’ a hard time processing all that because his suddenly vigorous response coaxed the prettiest moan from her. It was just enough of an opening to slip in between her lips, thoroughly sweeping her mouth, tasting her with increasing excitement.

Jayne may not have kissed whores on the mouth, but he knew how to kiss. Spent most’a his time on Beylix chasin’ and kissin’ on girls, and he could happily note that he hadn’t lost his touch. River responded wherever he touched her, arching into his hands, sighing happily into his mouth. She kept her hands glued to his neck and cheek, keeping him right where she wanted him, her legs gripping him tight. She was warm and sweet and felt so gorram good. It had been way too long since he’d had skin to skin contact. And he _loved_ it, loved that she moved so good against him, loved the sounds she made, loved that she was gettin’ goosebumps and her skin was hot, breath ragged and desperate. Quick study, too. Sexin’ up a genius would be the best idea he ever had. Or the reason he got dead quicker than necessary.

With that thought, he flipped them, pinning her down, and broke their kiss. He rested on his elbows, starin’ down at her like she was some kinda wild, feral thing. Well, she _was_. And her flushed cheeks and bruised lips did nothing to hide her smirk, which practically gloated that the only reason he had her pinned was because she was letting him pin her. Could spook a lesser man. But Jayne Cobb weren’t no lesser man.

“Listen Crazy,” he said low and quiet-like, “we ain’t doin’ this.” Unfortunately, he wasn’t expecting her to resist him in other ways. Instead of fightin’, she bowed up against him like a needy cat, rollin’ her hip into his crotch. He groaned. “Quit playin’,” he gritted out. “It ain’t right. I’m twice your age n’ mean to boot.”

“You are not twice my age, you are 11 years old than I am. Simon is 5 years older than Kaylee and Zoe is 4 years older than Wash. These are numbers that hold little relevance.”

“You don’t know whatcher talkin’ about.”

Her brow furrowed, “I always know what I am saying. Other people don’t seem know.” He frowned, perplexed by the fact that he still hadn’t moved away from her. He hadn’t rolled off her, relinquished any space between them. Felt too good. River must have sensed her opening. She drew her hands down his neck and over his shoulders, her leg brushing against his with intent. She wouldn’t stop moving her hands, touching him where she could reach.

“I am not Yang Yuhuan of Earth-that-was, defenseless to a lecherous old emperor” she said pulling him down to her with a sharp tug. He barely had a moment to react let alone catch his breath when she flipped them again so that she was sprawled out on top of him. Her body all but melted into his, muscles becoming soft and liquid to curve against his. She moved her hips against him and dipped down to whisper in his ear.

“I am Bai Suzhen, the White Maiden, made human by a foolish mortal. You saw me as a woman first, Jayne Cobb.” She kissed his ear, “Then as the snake,” she kissed his neck, biting gently at his jugular. He groaned, arms clamping around her back, hips snapping up. His eyes nearly crossed. River pulled back and he almost shouted in protest, but she didn’t stray far, just enough to kiss between his eyes, his cheek, to smooth her lips over his, nuzzling but not lingering. “Now you know me for both.” She kissed his lips lightly, “I would flood worlds for you. Will you escape your temple for me?” Her lips hovered over his, waiting for a response. She was always talking in riddles, confusin’ him. But he knew she liked stories. Old stories. Stories that nobody knew no more. She liked best the ones about spirits pretendin’ to be human, fallin’ in love with regular folk. Made some sense why for.

But they weren’t some fanciful old tale everybody forgot about. They were Jayne Cobb and River Tam, part of Serenity’s rag tag, criminal-like crew. He was muscle-for-hire and liked shootin’ people, and she was a shiny genius toy-weapon for the Alliance. But they chose what they chose and found family in the Black the best way they knew how. Mal wouldn’t like it. The doc _definitely_ wouldn’t like it. And the others would have opinions. Exceptin’ Wash. Wash would think it _hilarious_. Entertainin’ and such.

“Stop thinkin’ so loud,” she whispered, eyes locked on him.

“Stop givin’ me _go shi_ to think about,” he shot back in a mock whisper. She scrunched her face up at that like some brat kid, and it warmed his insides. When he didn’t think too hard on it, he forgot he was supposed to be an old, bitter merc in the Black. Sometimes he felt like he did durin’ the good years on Beylix. Before Pa died. Before Matty got sick. Before Lu went offworld to get married to some _hun dan_ what beat her and Darla lost her babies to fever. Before Ian’s accident in the mines. Good years when he was young and not so quick-tempered and distrustin’, years when he could feel somethin’ for somebody’s misfortune. He’d been that way once. Gorram it, she made him feel _real_ again. Human.

“You make me feel real, too.”

No point in fightin’ it, no gorram point at all.

Jayne surged up to kiss her fiercely, sucking and tugging on her lips until she opened beautifully for him. He took what she offered, giving no quarter. And she didn’t ask for none. She fought back just as roughly, burnin’ him up with every move and moan. Finally, he had to get some air, so he moved to her neck, biting down just enough and laving at her sensitive skin. River clutched him to her, squeezed her thighs around his hips, gasping. He grabbed at her thighs, dragging his fingers up to the soft give of her ass, squeezing her to him, buckin’ up into her. It took him a long, tormented moment to realize he had his hands up her dress and was about ready to rip her underthings from her all-too-willing body out in the open where any livin’ thing could see. The idea was…intriguing, but not for the first time. Deftly he rolled them again and then with one last, probing kiss, pulled himself away from her. She followed, whining at the loss, but he held her off. Reluctantly.

“Not here,” he panted out, sitting up, “Too much local color.” But she was grabbin’ for him, tryin’ to wrangle her way into his lap, kissin’ on his neck and ear. He growled and jumped to his feet, offering her a hand even though she didn’t need it. As he should have guessed, she used it for leverage and got herself tucked back into his arms, kissin’ him like she were dyin’ for it. And gorram if he weren’t, too. Jayne attempted, insincerely, to gentle her. Steady her. Soothe her. He kept his kisses light and sweet, pulling back when she went in. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck and he could already feel her knee inchin’ up along his leg. Wouldn’t take much to heave ‘er up and find the nearest solid surface. Nope, nope, nope. No.

 He pulled back and wrapped her in a tight bear hug against his chest. He needed to cool off, get the thunderin’ in his head under control. Not do somethin’ stupid for once.

“Not stupid,” she grumbled.

He snorted, “Ill-advised, then.” He kissed the top of her head then, lingering to inhale the smell of her hair. Unlike most’a the company he kept, she was actually clean. After a few deep breaths, he felt steady and stable enough to resist at least long enough to get back to the ship. River snuffled against his chest and tilted her head up to look at him, her eyes shiny and still full of those whispers. Whispers he thought he might actually understand.

But now he was in a pickle. He wanted to get back to the ship, and that required walking. But that hand-holdin’ nonsense weren’t enough to his mind. He could pick her up, but she wouldn’t like it. Suddenly she was laughing, giggling like a little kid. It made him raise his brows in silent question.

“Carry me like you carried Lu,” she said sunnily, as if it were firsthand knowledge. Annoyed him to no end that she knew things she shouldn’t, but there weren’t nothing she could do about it if he were thinkin’ too loud. Her smile softened.

“Won’t be a thing like carryin’ Lu.” She shrieked when he grabbed for her, and narrowly dodged his hands. But she got to her main goal, climbing up him like a tree and swingin’ onto his back like a gorram monkey. He didn’t even have to hold her to keep her there. Didn’t matter, her legs wrapped ‘round him tight and she had her arms slung over his shoulders, fingers brushing his chest, and she could nuzzle into his neck. She was warm against him and he could hear her breathing, and Jayne was pretty gorram sure that’s all he’d wanted anyway. Contact.

So he set off walking in the direction of the ship, hands on her legs just cause they were close and there. She rested her cheek against his head, comfortable hanging there in a way she probably shouldn’t be.  Something loosened in Jayne’s chest, settled calm-like into his core.

“All right, crazy girl,” he said quietly, “Tell me that story now.” River sighed happily and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“A long time ago on Earth-that-was, there were eight immortals. One decided to play a trick on mortals and came down from the heavens disguised as an old man selling _tangyuan_  on the Broken Bridge…”


	5. We Could Be the Start of Something

_Present_

Jayne wasn’t thinking straight. He was barely breathing. He’d jumped on the spare mule and took off to the drop site before Wash could even get in his chair. When he got there, everything was flames and chaos. Folk was runnin’ about, trees n’ buildings were ablaze, and he couldn’t see hide nor hair a’ his crew.

“ _River_!” he shouted over the din, looking around for her and the others. But that’s when he caught sight of Zoe’s hair, thick and flingin’ about while she tried to beat back flames comin’ from some small wood barn down the road. Mal was right there next to her, kerchief tied around his face while he viciously beat off the flames lickin’ to get at him. 

But no River.

Jayne was running before his body even knew it, hollerin’ and askin’ where she was. He didn’t need to be told she was still in the barn. Didn’t need to be told she got caught up in somethin’ tryin’ to play big damn hero. Zoe passed off a wet kerchief to him just before he burst through the doors, the wind sendin’ flames every which way.

Mal and Zoe were right behind him, coats off, beatin’ back flames, and tryin’ to make a path. Jayne jogged through as he could, not botherin’ to yell for her with his voice. But his thoughts were rampant and screaming. _C’mon honey, gimme somethin’_. He called out to her, reached with all the brain power her had. The smoke was thick and stung his eyes, and the sweat was sloughing off him like a second skin. There was no sign of the flames letting up anytime soon, so Jayne beat them back with his jacket as best he could. Right up until he felt a weak little nudge in the back of his brainpan. Without thinking, he spun around.

“River!”

“Jayne!” Mal called over to him. “Flames are cuttin’ you from the door!” He looked over to confirm, a beam that had fallen was going up quick, barring his exit.

“I ain’t found her yet!”

“You gotta get outta there!”

“Not without River!”

Whatever Mal said next was cut off by another beam falling near the first one, completely lit up and sending flames in every direction. Jayne couldn’t hear Mal over the noise and his head was getting sort of foggy anyway, so he kept looking around, frantic. Trapped.

This time, there was there were a full on jolt in his brain, damn near pulled him in her direction. His whole body relaxed when he realized she was fully situated in his head again. Clear.

The next jab was faint, sluggish from breathing in too much smoke, but Jayne could see her outline a few feet ahead and to the right. She was on the ground, twisted up, one leg trapped under what looked like an old steel cabinet. Another jab.

 _I’m comin’ honey_.

Moving the cabinet took some effort. Effort that Jayne wasn’t aware that he had at that point. When he got it lifted, River read him quick enough that she rolled out of its path so he could drop it back down. Unfortunately, it sent air right at the flames, enough to singe Jayne’s arm.

“ _Fuckin’ gorram_ —!” He was cut off by River’s agonized groan from the ground. She was near curled up in on herself, not lookin’ like she could move. _Okay River girl, we gotta get goin’_. But she shook her head and flung her hand weakly toward the door. Trapped. Like gorram rats in a maze of fire. He shook it off. _We’ll figure it. Up ya get. Just like Lu_. He bent to reach for her, holding out his arm so she could steady herself. The trapped leg was broke something awful, but the other seemed okay. She used him to prop herself up, hop on one leg, and then he helped her heave herself onto his back. She was coughin’ before she could even get herself situated. Gorram miracle she hadn’t passed out yet. _Thank them purple bellies for somethin’, I guess._ Jayne mentally chuckled when she pinched his arm.

 _Can ya see anything?_ He felt her shake her head. _Shiny, guess we’re goin’ in blind._

Except they didn’t get anywhere. Jayne was near knocked off his feet by what he thought was another explosion. It wasn’t. It was a crash. A big white van had come through the side of the barn near the window, smashing it all to bits and shakin’ the ground they stood on. The side door rolled open quickly and there was Zoe.

“Let’s go!” she shouted, “Only got a minute!” And by that she was referring to the way the barn was now wobbling from the ground up. Gorram motherfucking crazy. “ _Let’s go!_ ” Jayne gathered up the last of his strength and heaved the pair of them off the ground, using that momentum to get to the van, fallin’ through just as the driver started pulling away. Jayne didn’t need to hear Mal’s crazy-ass whoopin’ to know it was him drivin’. Ain’t nobody in Verse dumb enough to drive through a burnin’ building ‘cept Mal. But as the door slid shut and the heat was gone, Jayne couldn’t have been more grateful to be hooked up with the psycho _hun dan_.

“Boy,” he muttered through his coughing, “am I glad to see you guys.”

Zoe smiled over at him while she started tending to River’s leg. Girl was passed out cold, probably from shock and smoke. “Well, we couldn’t go losing both our brawn and our brains in one fell swoop, now could we?” Jayne tried to laugh, but all that came out was coughing.

“S’long as I’m beauty!” Mal chimed in from the front, driving like a lunatic.

“Of course, sir.”

The moment was ruined by another ruckus, louder than the ones before. Jayne twisted enough to see the barn collapse through their back window. The last thing Jayne thought before letting his eyes drift shut was that River’s hand was still warm and he could feel her pulse under his thumb.

*

_Five months earlier_

He didn’t take her to bed right away. Couldn’t put his finger on why, but if he had to take a guess it was somethin’ soppy and female. Not that he would ever own to it. Truth was, even if she were good to go, he wanted to do it right. Girl missed out on courtin’ and the fun a’ the buildup when she got sent to the bughouse-maker Academy. She didn’t know what it was like havin’ someone pay attention to her who weren’t her brother or tryin’ to cut her up. Made for some interestin’ situations. They were about their own business on jobs. Were easier communicatin’ because everybody relayed through River. And when the job inevitably went south and things got rough, they were more in sync than ever.

On board, it went a bit differently. River didn’t want her brother buttin’ in her business, so Jayne let her have her way, but he was still edgy about it. Didn’t like sneakin’ around to do what came natural to ‘im. And most times they weren’t _doin’_ anything at all. She would sprawl out in his bunk and draw while he cleaned his guns or she would read to him while he went through sets of exercises. They necked like gorram teenagers in the cockpit and in corners of the cargo bay when everyone else was squared away. But what he liked best was that she slept in his bunk.

Just sleepin’ at first. Fully clothed. No funny business at all.

Unfortunately.

Point was, he _liked_ having River tucked up against him, calm and even. She’d come runnin’ to him one night because of a nightmare, said she sometimes went to talk to Wash or curled up in her brother’s bunk, but they were havin’ sexy time with their ladies and she didn’t want to disturb them. Groggily he’d tugged her under the blanket with him, used her like a body pillow, and woke up to realize he’d got the best sleep of his life.  Yep, her elbow was shoved into his stomach and he had a mouth full of hair, but the woman was better than a space heater. And she didn’t seem to mind that he was basically crushing her to death. After that, weren’t no question where she slept.

The whole no funny business thing lasted about two weeks. He didn’t even mean for it to happen. Wasn’t even aware of what he was doin’ for a minute. Just happened natural. He woke up in the middle of the night, nuzzling into her neck, arms tight around her. Somehow, she’d worked herself to stretch out on top of him. Then she was moving and he was kissing her, and he couldn’t remember how their clothes got off.

It was slow and relaxed, and he got hard just thinking about her breathy gasps and how she’d struggled to get more of him. Jayne remembered thinking that he could fuck her forever, that it felt so good bein’ in her, all twined up with each other. A lot of the women he’d been with liked havin’ some space to maneuver, liked knowin’ they could get up and out if need be. Not River. She’d pulled him down flush against her, skin meeting at every point of contact. So he wasn’t getting a lot of momentum, just pulsing into her, grinding down, rockin’ against her. She came with a startled scream, muffling it by biting down on his shoulder hard. Hard enough that he was comin’ right behind her. Gorram witch.

Gettin’ inside her was like opening the gorram floodgates. If he wasn’t touching her, he was thinking about how he would when he could. Most times he had to physically restrain himself from reaching out to touch her in some small way, from snatching her up and kissing the grin off her face. She knew what he was thinkin’ on too, the harpy. She teased him, toyed with him at every possible moment, and then danced just out of reach. It made for some interesting alone time.

Turns out Jayne got a mite aggressive when he was all riled-up over sexin’.

Turns out, so did River.

They were in the mess after breakfast getting their weekly assignments for chores, but Jayne was having some difficulties in regards to focusing on account of the gorram crazy girl he were shacking up with. First it was just her hand. Fine, he could handle her hands on him cause touchin’ always calmed him down a bit. She smoothed it over his thigh, finger tips a-dancin’ along the curves, ‘ccasionally diggin’ into the dips of his muscles. Come to think, Riv could prolly give one helluva massage. Bore thinkin’ on. She must have realized he wasn’t payin’ a lick of attention to anything, because suddenly her hand was on his man parts and Mal was lookin’ right at him with this funny e’spression, like he was waitin’ for Jayne to say somethin’ relevant. Weren’t gonna happen.

River squeezed his dick, so he had to cover up his groan/squeak with words.

“ _Wh_ -at now?” he bit out, hopin’ his forehead weren’t too puckered. Gorram fuckin’—he was fully hard now.

Mal scowled. “Latrine duty. You and River. Right fuckin’ now.”

“Oh,” Thank _fuck_ , he thought loudly, making River snort. He tossed his fork, wiped his hands, and quickly went in that direction. “Hoof it, River!” he barked back over his shoulder testily. Gorram girl gettin’ him all worked up in front of the gorram crew.

He got there first and propped himself up against the wall, not bothering to hide or try to catch her off guard. Just wouldn’t happen. So when she came around the corner, she was reachin’ for him just as quick as he was grabbin’ for her. He pulled her in, spun her quick, and pinned her up against the wall. He slammed her hard enough to jar but not hurt.

“Somethin’ wrong?” she asked all cute, battin’ her lashes up at him with that smug smirk stretched across her lips. Jayne had to bite back a growl when she pushed her hips forward.

“Yer gonna kill me, Riv.”

“Good way to die,” she mumbled as his lips crashed down on hers. They were good at this now. Jayne unzipped while River, jumped up on him like he was a gorram pole, and he was slammin’ inside her in five seconds flat. Woman purred and clenched down on him hard enough to hurt some. Made him go a bit cross-eyed. Witch. He brought his hands up to steady her, gripping hard enough to bruise, pulled all the way out and the speared back in, knocking her full force into the wall from his effort. Cause a ruckus, sure, but he was more worried about the shrill little groan that got passed her lips. Wouldn’t do.

“Shhhh, honey, don’t want nobody walkin’ in.”

Her eyes flashed down at him, full of mischief, and she bit that bottom lip of hers, raked her nails up his sides. Jayne nearly kicked himself for not gettin’ shirt off first.

“We don’t?” she asked much too innocent.

“ _River_ ,” he growled out in warning. Weak, though. Cause she ducked her head, kissin’ and nibblin’ at his ear.

“But you always say I sound so pretty when you’re in me,” she whispered low into his ear. He shivered and wrenched himself deeper into her, tryin’ to hold still. “And I always wanna be pretty for you, baby.” And, naturally, he lost it. He started thrusting in and out of her hard and deep, knocking her back against the wall with every stroke. When she started making noise, he raised a hand to cover her mouth.

She bit him, leaving a mark.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he snarled and slammed into her hard enough to shake the room and make enough noise for the whole ship to hear. Mal’s voice echoed down the corridor, closer than was comfortable.

“You two shiny in there?” he called out.

Jayne removed his hand just long enough for them to call out “We’re fine!” in unison. And then he was replacing that hand with his mouth, biting and tugging at her lips with a mighty fierce need to get closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, fingertips reaching for his scalp, and she tongued into him like she owned that space. Warm wet heat enveloped him at every juncture, and he’d gladly take a bullet if he could die fucking River Tam. With that thought, she somehow managed to slither out of her dress, tossing it to the side and giving him full access to her tits. Jayne buried his face in them with a groan and she arched her back, twisting her hips sharply to rile him up again.

“ _Witch_ ,” he hissed at her. Her only response was her laughing eyes and to squirm on him, a silent plea for more. He obliged her.


End file.
